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Speculation on facial recognition iOS software has been floating around ever since the release of the iPhone 4. Rumors of Apple buying small companies (e.g. Polar Rose) with the purpose of creating facial recognition technology went rampant the summer of the iPhone 4 release. But to this day, no report has been stated or released the public from Apple about their progress. For all of us who are avid jailbreak community enthusiasts realize that any opening in this regard will soon be filled if Apple doesn't step up the game. An upcoming application will add the first facial recognition functionality to the iDevice.

RecognizeMe, an application by Chris Simpson (@apocolipse269), allows you to unlock your iDevice using a biometrics facial scan. After training your face in the application, you are able to either unlock your iDevice with the passcode or facial recognition. The application allows you to make multiple trainings to help the recognition go faster. The intensity of the verification threshold can be changed within the application as well (e.g. 0% = Not Secure, 75% = Fairly Secure). When the passcode on your iDevice is enabled, RecognizeMe becomes an option after setting it up accordingly. At the lockscreen, when you slide to unlock, the passcode comes up and at the top it gives you an option to use RecognizeMe. Overall, the application is simple and works well. Due to its use of the front facing camera, it is only compatible with the iPod/iPhone 4 (or any iDevice with a front facing camera). When it hits Cydia, it will be $6.99 for the first 3 weeks and then $9.99 after.

In the process of obtaining a .deb and getting this article all squared away, I asked Chris a few questions about RecognizeMe:

JOSH: How long did it take for you to create a working version of RecognizeMe?CHRIS:It took me about 2 1/2 months to build a working version of RecognizeMe.

JOSH: Were you working on this project solo or do you have team members/other developers that helped you out?CHRISI coded and designed this application completely myself but used a few close friends on IRC to test the application each step of the way.

JOSH: What part was most difficult about developing this application?CHRIS:The most difficult part was all the processing. This application does an INTENSE amount of it. Good news is, due to the fact that it requires a front facing camera, I could optimize it specifically for ARMv7 (as 3GS + has ARMv7), which means I could take advantage of some ARMv7 NEON SIMD instructions for image processing to speed things up (it got complicated and I'm using assembly).

JOSH: Are you planning any other implementations with RecognizeMe in the near future (such as individual recognitions for certain applications)?CHRIS:I'm planning on making an Appstore version that is a "Secure Notes" type application.

Also, Chris made a suggestion to make the recognition go smoother and faster. A key note to be wary of is proper light is important for quick recognition:

Originally Posted by Chris Simpson

Make 3 training sets, 1 with low light, 1 with medium light, and 1 with bright light (not too bright). This makes biometrics for 3 levels of light which usually covers most cases. More sets has slower training but better recognition. A lower threshold makes it faster with better recognition but more people can get in.

Follow Chris Simpson on Twitter for more information regarding RecognizeMe and his other developments.